TIDAL WAVES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 45, 23 February 1931, Page 9

TIDAL WAVES.

RAROTONGA VISITATION.

LETTER ' GIVES GRAPHIC

DESCRIPTION.

WHARF SUBMERGED BY WATER.

(By Telegraph.—'Press Association.)

NEW PLYMOUTH, Sunday.

A graphic description of a series of tidal waves, apparently the' result of a submarine disturbance that visited Rarotonga on the afternoon of Wednesday, January 28, nearly a week before the great earthquake that wrecked Napier and Hastings, is contained in a letter received in New Plymouth from Miss Freda Hirst, of Rarotonga. Miss Hirst says the extraordinary phenomenon created considerable alarm. "I was lying on the verandah early in the afternoon when I heard natives on the road yelling," says Miss Hirst. "We all rushed to see what was the matter. The sea, which had been like a, mill pond (it was a glorious day), had risen just outside the lagoon to a height of about 15ft. It was advancing in wave after wave, this way and that, in whirls. "It seems that we narrowly escaped a bad tidal wave, as, instead of the whole disturbance coming at once, it came in a series of waves, which broke over the reef with terrific thundering and rushed up the harbour. Each successive wave submerged the wharf entirely, and went on until it filled all the big wharf sheds. Then it receded with tremendous speed. A swirl of water dashed over the grass and road in front of our whare. "I have seen some wonderful breakers here in stormy weather, rising to heights of 20ft or so, but never anything like this The waves dashed over the reef with foam and spray 80ft high, and one followed another without a pause. It was a marvellous sight, and we ".vera ful quite alarmed. "There was not a breath, of wind. The sky was cloudless and the sea far out, when we occasionally caught a, glimpse of it, was blue, calm and still. It was the most extraordinary tli.ng . 1 ever seen. It kept on like this yearly the..next morning, and we hardly: ihe deafeaipg boom

like crashing thunder and rushing sound of water advancing and' receding with tremendous speed. We are all very anxious to hear whether there has been a tidal wave anywhere else or a submarine volcano eruption. I was afraid that perhaps you had been having some very bad earthquakes."